N. Chicago PD chief on leave after brutality complaints

For the first time, North Chicago's mayor is publicly acknowledging a crisis of confidence in the police force.

Mayor Leon Rockingham placed his police chief, Michael Newsome, on paid leave, finally caving to public and city council pressure. He will bring in a retired state police colonel to look at a total of 88 claims of excessive force by police officers filed over the last four years.

"We as a city of North Chicago really need to make that the residents and people that are coming into our community are being handled properly," said Mayor Rockingham.

Residents - some through tears - told stories at a meeting Tuesday night of alleged mistreatment at the hands of North Chicago Police.

"It hurt, it hurt when you don't do nothing wrong," said North Chicago resident Marquita McGee at the meeting.

"They tazed him, they kicked him, and kicked him in the head and beat him like a dog," said Waukegan resident Mary Miller Lane.

"No disciplinary action have been brought up against any of these officers. And when you look, the majority of these officers, it's a continuous thing for them," said Valerie DeVost, North Chicago alderman.

The chief's suspension and outside review comes after a series of incidents -- some caught on camera. They include an officer appearing to strike a man in the station's booking room.

Much of the outrage and a rash of new complaints have come since the death of Darrin Hanna shortly after a North Chicago police officer shot him with a stun gun.

Since then, Hanna's family has been the conduit for videos and new claims of excessive force, including one that appears to show an officer hitting a man so hard it sends him into a police station wall. The video was played at a city council meeting two weeks ago.

"If that officer has done wrong he will be disciplined," said Mayor Rockingham. When reminded the incident was videotaped, Rockingham responded: "There's a process we have to go through."